Thieves' Honor
by Neuroses-Isn't-Just-A-Word
Summary: A curse brought down the once powerful Thieves' Guild and drove them into exile. Now that they're back, they're making up for lost time.
1. Prologue: History Lessons

The Thieves' Guild of Middle Earth was once a thriving and powerful entity. They stole to sell to black market buyers, they stole to keep for themselves, and sometimes they stole for others. They did not just steal material things such as jewels and works of art but also information. A proper thief knew not only how to infiltrate a locked door or safe but also how to infiltrate ranks and societies and systems of government. The Guild was able to create a complicated but well functioning balance. They were criminals but they were well-respected criminals with endless resources. Going after individual thieves was commonplace, going after satellite branches was ill advised, going after the heads of the Guild was insane, and going after the whole system was suicide.

When Sauron was still a man and was just beginning to plan the take over of Middle Earth one of his priorities was to enlist the Thieves' Guild as a network of spies. The payment was whatever the Guild wanted; power, wealth, a recognized kingdom of their own. The Guild sensed the evil within Sauron immediately and they refused Sauron's offer. Sauron then put a curse on them for their insolence. Every metal, every gem, every fine piece of art and cloth would turn to dust when touched by a member of the Thieves' Guild.

Being an exceptionally intelligent and resourceful people the members of the Guild did not leave time for despair but quickly summoned their brightest strategists to find a solution. It was clear that they would have to abandon their great halls, for every time they touched something it was reduced to nothing. They could not bear arms, they could not steal, they could not smith or weave themselves products. The only solution was exile until the curse was lifted.

So the Guild took to the forests. They knew their halls were safe. No one outside of the Guild knew where they were or the correct way to enter. The halls were locked up and left. The Guild fashioned new homes in the forest among the trees. To the outside world, the Thieves' Guild disappeared.


	2. The Girl Who Burns

As the last light of the setting sun filtered through the windows the girl was lead into the great hall by a guard on either side. Her hands were shackled together behind her but her feet were unbound. Neither Arwen's nor Legolas' elven ears could find the sound of her footsteps. The girl herself was young, perhaps in her early twenties and astonishingly slender, yet she didn't look malnourished. Her hair, a mixture of warm brown and deep red hung in a simple braid down her back. Her clothes were simple; a short tunic with pants tucked into boots, all made out of the softest leather. Aragorn judged that she wasn't from his or any kingdom he knew of by her features; they were larger than those of the peoples' he knew and her olive skin was foreign to him as well. Her eyes were twin topaz stones, locked onto his brown ones. She had not looked anywhere else since entering the hall. Finally the trio stopped before his throne. The two guards bowed, the girl did not.

"Your highness, this girl was caught pick-pocketing several royal guards in the square. She refuses to speak. We do not know her name or where she hails from."

"Girl," Aragorn addressed the prisoner, "What is your name? Where do you hail from?" No sound passed the prisoner's lips. "Girl, you are accused of stealing from the royal guard, what do you say to this claim?" Still nothing. "If you do not identify yourself and answer to the accusations laid against you, you will be held in a cell until you are cooperative." Not even a twitch. "Will you answer my questions now?"

"No." The word was not spoken harshly or mockingly, but was dispassionately stated. Legolas had enough of the girl's impertinence.

"Do you not know to whom you speak?" At the elvish prince's harsh words the girl's attention refocused on Legolas with the quickness of a viper. "This is Aragorn, king of Gondor, in whose dominion you have committed a crime and whose mercy you should seek. Show some respect."

"Legolas," Aragorn soothed, telling his long-time friend in one word to calm himself. The king turned his attention back to the girl who was still staring intently at the elf. Though the composed mask never moved from her face Aragorn got the impression that she was smirking in amusement. She calmly turned her head back to look at Aragorn and in the same smooth, deliberate tone said: "No, thank you."

Aragorn couldn't help but be amused by the girl's self-correction. "Very well." He nodded to the two guards and they took her away.

"I shall accompany." The king of Gondor raised his eyebrows. "There is something false about her. The way she dressed was simple yes, but she was," Legolas paused, looking for the right word, "pristine. Even in the way she walked and talked. This is not ordinary thief."

"I agree." Legolas nodded to Aragorn and followed the three out the door. Aragorn sighed and looked out to see night had fallen. "And what do you think, my queen?"

"Arwen looked up at her husband from her slightly lower perch. "There is more to this girl than meets the eye. I can sense fire under her skin and a sharpness in her mind. She is not to be taken lightly." Aragorn nodded.

"Come, my queen," he said, standing, "it is getting late." Arwen smiled at her loving husband and together they left for their chambers.

Legolas followed the trio down to the holding cells. The girl did not struggle or make noise or show any discomfort at the idea of being locked up. That was unusual enough. The girl was young and looked soft and fragile, the idea of being put in a cage should have frightened her at least a little. The elf studied her once more from his position behind her, looking for any sign of weakness or indications of training or hardships that would make her so blasé about her situation. The only odd thing he could find it that she was wearing gloves. It was spring and too warm for such things, especially when these looked to extend up her arms.

The guards opened her cell door and she walked calmly inside without any assistance. The girl sat on the cot on the opposite wall from the door and watched uninterestedly as she was locked inside. The guards nodded in respect to the elven prince as the manned their posts; one at the entranceway to the holding area and one at the side of the prisoner's cell.

Legolas stood facing the girl, his nose just inches from the bars. She was starring right at him, unblinking, unapologetic. And her eyes _burned._

A strange feeling of panic, but not fear gripped him. He felt an itching in his hands and a lightness in his head and he desperately needed to _do_ something or _say_ something, anything.

"You should be more mindful of to whom you speak." Even as the words of admonishment for her behavior towards Aragorn left his lips he knew they would have no effect on her and sounded a bit weak in his own ears. The elf turned away from the girl then and addressed the guard by her cell. "I will come back to check on her in two hours time. The guard responded with a respectful: "Yes, sir." and the elven prince left.


	3. Speak Your Mind

"My king, please, awaken," an urgent whisper awoke Aragorn. He turned to see a panicked servant boy.

"What is it, child?" he asked the last visages of sleep leaving him.

"I was sent to tell you that the prisoner escaped and the guards in charge of her and Prince Legolas were injured." Aragorn threw the covers off of him.

"Where are they now?"

"In the medical ward, sir."

"Thank you." The boy quickly left and Aragorn threw on a tunic before departing as well.

When the king entered the medical bay the sight of two unconscious guards and a very perturbed elf greeted him.

"I tell you, I am FINE." Legolas' usually pleasant voice was laced with annoyance.

"Sir, you only just awoke. The injury to your head requires a cool compression and you need to rest," one of the healers tried to reason. Aragorn sighed and relaxed a little, seeing that no one was greatly hurt.

"Legolas," Aragorn called, moving over to his friend. "What happened?" The elf looked a bit startled at Aragorn's sudden appearance, a sure sign that something more was wrong than the elf led on. The elven prince's face molded into a mixture of agitation and embarrassment.

"I returned to the holding cells two hours after the girl had been locked up to find both guards missing. I took no more than five steps down the hall when she jumped me; nay _fell upon me_ from above. The last thing I remember was being flat on my back with her fist coming towards my head." Legolas went to shake his head but winced as he irritated his injury. "Gimli will never let me live this down once he gets here. Being taken down by a mere slip of a girl," Legolas muttered.

"We were both taken by surprise," Aragorn assured him, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Now, you need rest." Seeing Legolas' mouth open to protest Aragorn continued. "Though if being confined to the medical ward is too much for you, you may rest in your own quarters." Legolas found this to be a fair compromise even if he still preferred to not rest and go after the little thief himself.

Something was amiss. Legolas could quite put his finger on it but he knew something was wrong. Aragorn noticed the tensing of his friend when they entered the elf's room and immediately became alert.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure." The elf began to search his room for intruders before going through his possessions.

"Legolas-" Aragorn's request for an explanation was cut off by Legolas spinning around quickly from his post in front of his dresser.

"My crown is missing." The elf's voice was tight. "We must check your stores, see if she took anything else." Legolas swiftly exited the room and Aragorn sighed, even as he gave the order. Though his friend's body was relatively undamaged, the poor elf's pride was much worse off. Not to mention his own. How did the girl escape? And was did Legolas mean 'fell upon him from above'? He contemplated these things as he lead guards down to the stores.

After painstakingly going through every inch of the vast amounts of wealth in the vaults the girl's target was finally discovered. A simple necklace, a golden chain with a tiger-eye's pendant was missing from its holder and in its place was Legolas' crown. The elf snatched it off the hook and a small, folded piece of paper fell out of the weaving of the metal. Before anyone else could seize the paper slim elvish fingers were already opening it. Inside, in perfect elvish: 'You should be more mindful of to whom you speak' was written. Below the message was a small picture of a feather, the girl's personal signature Legolas assumed; and in the right lower corner was a even smaller sketch of an ivy leaf with a star above it – the symbol of the Thieves' Guild.


	4. The Other Side

'_You should be more mindful of to whom you speak'_ The girl had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. The cuffs were easy enough to get out of, all she had to do was tip back her head and remove the wooden pick from the bottom of her braid and a few moments later the latches were undone. Now all she had to do was wait for the guard by her door to be gone from his post long enough to pick the lock on the door. That opportunity came much sooner than she expected. As her door guard when to the lavatory to relieve himself she moved silently to the lock and with all the skill imparted upon her by her teachers the lock gave.

The guard by the entrance way picked up the soft clicking of the lock and went to investigate. The girl dropped so she was resting her weight on her hands and her legs curled up into her chest. Once the guard was in front of her bars she kicked out as hard as she could knocking the door into the man and the man into the opposite wall. His unprotected head hit the hard stone and knocked him out cold. The loud clash of metal against metal and then stone predictably drew out the other guard. The former prisoner charged the man and as he drew his sword to subdue her, the girl jumped in the air and kicked the guard in the temple. The guard collapsed. The girl took two pairs of shackles from the first guard and turned them both onto their stomachs. Then she bent their right legs at the knees and brought their left arms around to rest on their backs and shackled their respective wrists and ankles together.

The young thief adjusted her gloves and thanked the ingenious of her Guild for placing thin sheets of steel in between the layers of her gloves and boots. It would have taken much more effort and not to mention time to subdue the second guard with out the extra enforcement. Now all she had to do was wait for that elf to return. She couldn't simply leave the guards and complete her task; the elven prince was due back soon and she couldn't risk him alerting others of her escape before she could leave the city. As gently as she could, for she meant them no ill will, the redhead dragged the bound and unconscious guards into her cell and shut the barred door. She had to find a way of subduing the elf quickly. The holding area had only one entrance and there were not alcoves to hide in except the cells themselves. She considered taking him out the same way she took out the first guard but elves were quicker than men and he wore no armor to slow his reflexes. She needed to surprise him enough that his reaction time was cut in half. The girl looked up and saw that the ceiling had been cut up into sections by protruding beams. Perfect.

_What could possibly be delaying that infuriating elf? I swear if there aren't a horde of Orks invading the castle right now- _ Her thoughts were cut off by light, barely audible footsteps coming down the stairs. _Thank you._ The thief's legs and arms were beginning to ache and tremble; her back pressed against the ceiling, her legs in a split, feet strained against the walls and her arms were stretched over her head, her fingers desperately gripping the beam in front of her. She heard the elf, _Legolas_, stop at the base of the stairs, probably wondering where the guards were.

"Hello?" Legolas called out cautiously. Time dragged out and it suddenly felt like hours until the elf appeared under her. The girl dropped.

To his credit the elf didn't even make a noise of surprise though by the look of unadulterated shock on his face as he started up at her from the flat of his back it was due more to an overload of surprise than to skill. The thief spared no time in rabbit punching Legolas so the combined force of her fist and the floor rendered him unconscious. The girl sighed in relief. If that hadn't worked her whole plan would have been ruined. Despite her extensive and specialized training she was still only human and, as much as she _hated_ to admit it, the elf would more than likely best her in an honest physical confrontation.

_Less thinking, more moving! _She chided herself. After quickly stashing Legolas in the same manner as her two unfortunate guards the girl silently bounded up the stairs onto the first floor of the castle. If the plans that she had snatched several days earlier were correct, and she was almost completely sure they were, the treasury was one floor up. The girl felt the thieving-rush flow through her blood, like lightening, shooting up her back and tingling in her hands, leaving her limbs trembling. This was her favorite part. Not the plotting or laying eyes on your target, or the escape; no, her favorite part was the hunt. You could never plan out the hunt. Many have tried, gathering as much information as they could bribe, steal, and coerce, drawing our plans, receiving advice from the brightest minds in the business; but in the end, the hunt was pure instinct. The girl thrived on instinct. It was raw and hot and beat low inside like a steady drum.

The thief shook her head to bring herself back to reality; it was too easy to get lost in that kind of fire. The sliver moon cast a very low glow upon the earth, allowing the shadows to crawl and expand beyond their natural habitats. The girl was a specter among those exaggerated pool of darkness, silent and quick. She was passing through the guest quarters when she heard a light shuffling of feet, probably that of a child, ahead. She quickly made a mental list of all known guests currently residing in the palace and concluded that the only guest was currently unconscious in a cell. Without fear of complication the girl threw herself into the closest room. She crouched down and listened through the gap between to door and floor until the soft footsteps were no longer audible. She was about to exit the room when she noticed that this particular room looked to be occupied.

Had she really, out of all the rooms available to her- the girl shook her head and smiled a slow, feral, grin. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. After taking a quick stock of the elf's things left out in the open she narrowed her focus on the ceremonial box on one of the tables. The contents made her eyebrows disappear into her hairline. _So you are an elf PRINCE then? Explains your attitude. _A simple, silver crown, shaped like two interweaving branches sat nestled in blue velvet, begging her to take it. Unfortunately, deviation from her target was not an option in this particular job. She let out a barely audible sigh of disappointment and was closing the lid when she spotted ink and parchment laid out on the other end of the table. An idea began to take form and she found she couldn't suppress a half hysterical, half dark giggle.


End file.
